Cheers and jeers: Feb. 12, 2011

Saturday

Feb 12, 2011 at 12:01 AM

Anyone who watched Super Bowl XLV on Sunday knows the name Tramon Williams.The Green Bay cornerback and punt returner left his mark on the game by recording six tackles — third most on his team.He anchored a defensive secondary decimated by injuries, the most severe of which took fellow cornerback Charles Woodson out of the game before halftime.While he did not record either of the pivotal interceptions by Green Bay, he was involved in coverage on both plays. He played a great game and was a huge part of the Packers’ Super Bowl victory.What most of those spectators probably did not know was that before he was a Green Bay Packer, he was an Assumption Mustang.In a year when the Saints lost out in the first round of the playoffs, everyone around here still had a hometown hero to root for in the big game. And he did not disappoint.Congratulations, Tramon Williams, on a great game and a great career so far. We can’t wait to see how high you can go!

The police don’t know who is responsible for the vandalism that occurred recently at St. Joseph Cemetery in Thibodaux.At its heart, though, the important thing isn’t who did it, it is what they did.A tomb that might be more than a century old had some its bricks knocked out, leaving obvious holes in a historic cemetery.It is a shame that anyone in our small communities would so disrespect our history and ancestors.Cemeteries are solemn places where family members go to grieve and to celebrate the lives of loved ones. Even people from other families will surely see and be disturbed by the damage to the tomb.No one should have to endure such an intrusion upon the personal grief we all feel when visiting a tomb or participating in a funeral service.Perhaps there is a legitimate explanation for the damage, but in the meantime, it is a needless disruption of what should be a peaceful place.

When Nicholls State Police Sgt. Joseph “Joey” Suitt was killed in a car crash Feb. 5, a young life was taken away from Nicholls State, from his hometown of Raceland and from Thibodaux, where he was living.What was left behind here, though, is a beautiful, lasting tribute to the artist Suitt was. A design he created will be used for uniform patches by the University Police, said Chief Craig Jaccuzzo.That is no substitute for such a promising public servant, but it is something that remains, a lasting memory on the Nicholls State campus Suitt loved so much.That is an honor and distinction that will live on.

The state is considering the geomatics degree program at Nicholls State as a possible budget fatality.Because the program has been designated a “low-completer” — meaning it did not graduate enough students in the past three years — it is one of 450 across the state that could be eliminated.But earlier this week, the mapping and surveying program received a $100,000 donation as part of what the university hopes will be a $250,000 endowment to encourage more people to study geomatics. The endowment will pay for 20 scholarships of $1,000 apiece, encouraging people to enter the program.Perhaps the state will take into account the extraordinary efforts the school and its supporters are taking to improve the program’s numbers before making any final decision about whether it will be eliminated.